Mike Green is Back and Ovechkin is the Boss… Apple Sauce

With Washington getting its fourth straight victory, this time a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames, Dale Hunter‘s system appears to finally be clicking.

Tomas Vokoun got the nod and stopped 18 shots. John Carlson and Karl Alzner had the duties of making sure Jarome Iginla didn’t net his 500th goal. Mission accomplished. They held the line to only eight total shots for the night. Alzner, the second highest shot blocker on the team, added two to his total, while his BFF Carlson, the third highest shot blocker, added one to his total.

It was also, apparently, Super Swede night at Verizon Center.

Marcus Johansson had two assists on the night, finished a plus-1 and finished a perfect 3/3 on the faceoff dot. His fellow countryman, Nicklas Backstrom, finished with three assists, a plus-1, went 11/18 (61 percent) on the faceoff dot, and made sure he stole the show when he was elbowed in the head by Rene Bourque in the last half of the third period.

While he didn’t see the play, Johansson had some strong words about the elbow to his Swedish buddy’s head.

“The puck wasn’t even close, so it’s unnecessary and I think it’s very, very bad,” he said. “I mean it’s at the end of the game, too, and it’s unnecessary.”

In Green’s return, he had a less-than-stellar night, but for someone who has barely played in 29 games, it wasn’t bad.

He finished with two penalties, 15:43 of ice time, three hits and two blocked shots.

Hunter wasn’t concerned with Green’s play and expects him to improve the more playing time he gets.

“You’re rusty,” he said. “You’re not going to play up to the standards that you want to play, but you’ve got to start somewhere. I don’t know how many minutes he played, but you’ve got to start somewhere. You’ve got to get the rust off.”

As for the captain, Alex Ovechkin was certainly the boss, apple sauce. He notched his 17th goal of the season and extended his point streak. In those seven games, he’s recorded as many goals and notched four assists. This was also his fourth straight two-point game. For the sake of preventing a jinx, he’s sucking a whole lot less. But let’s all just knock on wood, just to be safe.